I have only won one award for my work in theatre. It was for The 14th Tale, 15 years ago. I know awards don’t really matter - I don’t write for them - but something alchemical happens when you win something, when the industry seems to say ‘I see you, I see what you have done, keep doing it.’
Three Sisters is a play about the Biafran Genocide, about Nigeria’s civil war. When I saw this production in Canada earlier this year, I could not help but see what is occurring in Gaza reflected in the stories, lives, and bodies of the actors on stage. The judges of the Dora Awards saw the universality of human suffering, the attempt to find joy and meaning despite such difficulties, and awarded the incredible artists who came together, for telling my story, for letting it play out.
We won two awards, for Outstanding Production and Outstanding Performance By An Ensemble.
Thank you to: Akosua Amo-Adem, Virgilia Griffith, Daren A. Herbert, Sterling Jarvis, ID Leslie, Tawiah M’Carthy, Ngabo Nabea, Oyin Oladejo, Tony Ofori, Makambe K. Simamba, Ordena Stephens-Thompson, & Amaka Umeh, Mumbi Tindyebwa Otu, Weyni Mengesha, to Soulpepper Theatre and Obsidian Theatre Co-Production for mounting this production.
To the family members of people in conflict areas, people from Sudan, Congo, Ukraine, Kenya, Haiti and more, I know you are experiencing varying forms of survivor’s guilt in varying intensities, but we are privileged and lucky not be in the line of fire, so try to keep your guilt at bay and bear witness. Document the stories that you find, that come your way that future generations might learn and understand what it is happening now.
#thaswassup